Media Contact: Michelle.Sherwood@sen.ca.gov

SACRAMENTO, CA – Senator Melissa Hurtado (D-Bakersfield) today released the following statement after attending a Farmer’s Protest. Senator Hurtado was invited by the Punjabi American Growers Group to join and speak about the possibility of hundreds or thousands farmers who may lose their livelihoods due to increasing water fees. She renewed her call for the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate drought profiteering and water market manipulation.

“The world is facing a food and water crisis,” said Senator Hurtado. “The stakes are as high as they have ever been for farmers and those of us they feed. I have real concerns this crisis is being made worse by drought profiteering and market manipulation. That is why today I am renewing my call to the Department of Justice to investigate these activities and those participating in them. Farmers are not the problem—they are part of the solution.”

To view Senator Hurtado’s remarks, please click here.

Recent reports indicate that private investor interest in water rights purchasing, which was likely propelled by the 2015 water crisis in California, has increased significantly. Finding reliable data has become essential to making decisions surrounding water resource management, regulatory compliance, environmental impacts, ecosystem services, urban and economic development, and other issues. This data informs decisions by legislators, executives, agencies, and even, individual citizens. This data must be accurate and based on the best scientific evidence available, which leaves it potentially vulnerable to market manipulation by interested parties.

California’s water availability conditions continue to worsen, and every part of the state will be impacted. The last twenty years represent the driest period the region has faced in approximately 1,200 years. In fact, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has reported that as of March 2022 snowpack conditions in the Western United States were ten to fifteen percent below the historical median on average.

Many towns across California have faced massive water curtailments, rising water prices, and have seen their wells run dry, forcing them to jump through hoops and hurdles in order to receive just enough water to live. Safe drinking water and freshwater resources are central to the health of California’s economy and communities and is jeopardized by the increase in costs.

About Senator Melissa Hurtado

Senator Melissa Hurtado represents a new generation of Latina leaders as the youngest woman ever elected to the California State Senate and a product of immigrant parents. Senator Hurtado represents the 14th Senate District and focuses on rural community issues that often go unheard — access to clean air and water, food insecurity and poverty, inequities in environmental policies, agriculture and access to health care. In July 2020, she was appointed to the national Biden Latino Leadership Committee alongside former Labor Secretary and current Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis – the only two California Latinas on the Committee.

For more information, visit Senator Hurtado’s Website here or find her on Twitter at @Senator_Hurtado

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